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A federal judge in Florida has slammed Apple and Google for using their global patent legal dispute as a way to hammer at each other rather than settle disagreements. In an order dated Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola said, "The parties ... are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end. That is not a proper use of this court." Separately, on the patent front, Apple filed a motion asking federal Judge Lucy Koh to reinstate $85 million in damages she sliced from a jury award in Apple's 2012 landmark patent infringement victory over Samsung Electronics.

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Wireless carriers can help broadcasters grow their business, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski told a TV conference on Wednesday in urging the industries to cooperate more closely on content distribution and their upcoming incentive spectrum auction. "Mobile is an exciting, new platform for exactly what broadcasters do, which is produce great national and local content," Genachowski said. He noted that stations had initially fought cable companies who turned into a "boon" for the industry. "Given the new economic models, the same thing could happen to mobile," he said.

Sprint Nextel's bid to buy the rest of Clearwire may run into resistance from Crest Financial; the seller's largest majority investor filed a preliminary proxy statement which -- once approved by regulators -- would urge shareholders to reject the deal as undervaluing the wireless service provider. In its statement, Crest said shareholders would benefit more from Clearwire remaining a stand-alone company.

Samsung Electronics reportedly will not be working on developing A7 application processors, the chips that are at the heart of Apple's future iPhones and iPads, according to a South Korean media report. Samsung has been a longtime supplier to Apple, but the rivals have become increasingly estranged. "Apple is sharing confidential data for its next A7 system-on-chip with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.," The Korea Times reported.

Samsung Electronics said that it will drop patent claims against rival Apple in five European countries: Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands. The company said the move was a unilateral one, adding that it would prefer to compete in the marketplace rather than in court. U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh is weighing Apple's request for additional damages in the aftermath of its August jury verdict over Samsung. Koh this week refused to ban Samsung devices. Also, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge cleared Apple of violating Motorola Mobility's patents regarding a sensor designed to stop phones from hanging up accidentally.

Apple's release of the next iPhone reportedly will elicit "immediate legal action" from Samsung Electronics, according to The Korea Times, which says the phone maker will claim that the handset violates patents related to providing Long-Term Evolution service. Also on the patent front, Apple on Monday objected to a bid by Samsung to overturn a federal court order that had blocked sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. Apple argued that Samsung's appeal of its recent patent defeat removes Judge Lucy Koh's jurisdiction in the matter.